CINCINNATI -- Lieutenant Emmett Gladden thinks constantly about the day Eric Shields shot him and specialist Joyce Neville, leaving her sprawled on the pavement and him chasing after Shields with a bullet in his shoulder.
"I specifically remember thinking, 'Somebody is going to have to tell my mother that I was killed,'" he said Tuesday. "It changed me. I can't say that I will ever get over it."
Shields has been behind bars since that day: June 12, 1993. He becomes eligible for parole in April, and Gladden said he strongly believes Shields ought to stay in prison.
According to Gladden, he and Neville spotted Shields parked on the side of the road in North College Hill that day and approached him, thinking he looked suspicious.
"It's hard to describe, but he had this look about him," Gladden said. "Kind of like, 'Uh-oh.' He kind of froze for a minute, and his eyes glossed over. … His right arm was extended across the seat and he has a newspaper over his hand."
Under the newspaper was a gun.
"He comes out of the car, and he spins and he starts firing shots," he said. "The first shot hit Officer Neville … I saw her fall, and I thought he killed her."
He didn't, but he wounded her hand so she couldn't shoot back as he fled. Gladden had grabbed Shields and was attempting to hold him when Shields fired again, hitting him in the shoulder.
Officers eventually discovered him hiding in a nearby home. He was arrested and convicted of attempted murder; according to Gladden, Shields had only been on that street with a gun in hand because he intended to kill someone else.
"He had no reason to do it other than he is a stone-cold killer," Gladden said. "He deserves to be in prison and should stay in prison."
Anyone with input on Shields' parole eligibility can contact the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office here.
